Pressured by Dems, Gov. Christie praises N.J. Supreme Court nominees

Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-LedgerBuffeted by questions from Senate Democrats about the qualifications of his two state Supreme Court nominees, Gov. Chris Christie Wednesday ramped up a campaign to trumpet their achievements and called for swift hearings.

TRENTON — Buffeted by questions from Senate Democrats about the qualifications of his two state Supreme Court nominees, Gov. Chris Christie Wednesday ramped up a campaign to trumpet their achievements and called for swift hearings.

Christie rolled out several endorsements from politicians and former colleagues of the nominees, Bruce Harris, 61, a private attorney and mayor of Chatham borough, and Phillip Kwon, 44, first assistant state attorney general and a former federal prosecutor.

Jun Choi, a former Democratic mayor of Edison, said in a statement released by Christie that he was supporting Kwon because he is "an accomplished attorney, thoughtful independent, and a person of high integrity."

But despite the support cited by Christie, the New Jersey chapter of the NAACP came out against Harris, who is black and openly gay. Other leading black groups said they knew little about him and would remain on the sidelines until they could learn more.

James Harris, president of the state chapter of the NAACP, said Harris "in no way shape or form" appeared to be qualified for the Supreme Court.

"Bruce has kept himself away from the civil rights movement, and we’ll probably keep ourselves away from him," Harris said.

For the past several days, a battle has been brewing over when the Senate will take up the nominations, which were announced only 10 days ago. Earlier this week, state Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D-Union), chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said confirmation hearings would begin "no time soon."

Yesterday the state Republican Party called on Democrats to "end the games" with the nominations.

"Despite the fact it is almost impossible to keep track of what New Jersey Democrats’ actual priorities are these days, it is still very disappointing to see political posturing become more important than actual progress," said Doug Mayer, a Republican spokesman.

But as Christie and state Republicans called for a vote by March 1, members of the Judiciary Committee said the deadline was unrealistic.

State Sen. Gerald Cardinale (R-Bergen), a panel member, said he planned to schedule interviews for the middle of this month. "Just because a hearing isn’t scheduled doesn’t mean there’s a hold," he said.

State Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen) said the deadline was not feasible given the amount of work before the panel and that Christie "can want, he can stamp his feet and he can threaten, but this is what is known as separation of government."

Nominations are usually vetted by the New Jersey State Bar Association, but it has not said if that has begun, and the governor’s office has not responded to questions about its intentions. The bar recommends a minimum 20 days to complete its review, according to its agreement with the state.

Scutari said Kwon’s nomination was in jeopardy in the wake of a Star-Ledger article detailing a nearly $160,000 settlement between federal authorities and a New York wine and liquor store owned by Kwon’s mother and which has employed Kwon’s wife.

Last night in Hackensack, a handful of Korean community leaders joined state Sen. Kevin O’Toole (R-Essex) to rally in support Kwon, who would be the high court’s first Asian-American justice. In a statement, 34 community leaders said they were "offended and strongly disagree" with the article.

"What I’m a little disheartened to see is there are a number of state senators who have rushed to judge, or I should say prejudge," O’Toole said.
By Christopher Baxter and MaryAnn Spoto/The Star-Ledger
Staff writer Ryan Hutchins contributed to this report.